


Masks

by Celestialmari



Category: New Teen Titans, Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:33:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24012121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestialmari/pseuds/Celestialmari
Summary: A story based on the dreaded DickKory pool scene from The Titans (2008). Dick is forced to take up the Batman mantle, meaning that he must push away those that helped him become Nightwing, especially Kory, who had helped him embrace the light and emotion within himself.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Kudos: 21





	Masks

That one tiny, two-letter word stung like fire leaving Dick’s mouth, as his heart sank into his stomach. He knew by the look of her face that it stung her just as sharply. Her beautiful, purple-red lips quivered and he could see her normally bright and cheerful alien eyes droop suddenly. She willingly let him see her pain, not even for a second trying to hide who she was in that moment, and he, knowing full well that his words were lies felt a heartbreak so deep that for a moment he didn’t think he could survive.

Koriand’r, the alien princess of the planet Tamaran was the very definition of the light in his life. She represented freedom, both physically and emotionally, and allowed him to be the person he only dreamed of being. However, a dark shadow had fallen over him lately and he knew that light she gave him had to be extinguished. There was no other way to move forward under the circumstances.

Unfortunately for him, the time had come when the world no longer needed his light. It didn’t need a superhero as kind-hearted and hopeful as Nightwing, but rather it needed the shadowy figure of Batman to return and fill the gap that Bruce had left behind. It was his responsibility, a responsibility he had accepted the moment he agreed to become Robin all those years ago, and a part of him always knew this is what would happen one day. The world desperately needed a Batman, and no one other than the first Robin could take that spot.

The sadness in Kory’s eyes filled the entire room, an emotion so passionate it seemed to change the air itself. Dick felt tears welling in his eyes, but it wasn’t in his nature to let them go like it was hers. It took everything in him to not run into her arms and cry apologies into her long red locks of hair, but Bruce had taught him well. He knew better than anyone how to be cold like his mentor, even though that wasn’t anything like what he wanted to be.

That was the problem. In order to protect the people of Gotham, he needed to sacrifice the best thing in his life, the thing that made him Nightwing instead of Batman, the person that made him exactly who he so wanted to be.

“Dick.” Kory whimpered under breath, her pupil-less green eyes staring right into his heart and soul. “I know you better than you know yourself.”

After what felt like years, Kory turned away from him, ripples of pool water flowing away from her body and moving along Dick’s skin. She swam quietly to the pool steps and easily lifted her body out of the water, which suddenly felt as cold as ice without her in it. As she walked towards the door that led away from the Titans Tower pool, she paused for a second.

“Don’t think for a second that I don’t know when you’re lying,” she spoke, a slight twinge of angry laughter in her voice that quickly faded into quiet acceptance, “but if this is what you deem as necessary, then I trust you.”

With those final words, her feet lifted gently off the ground. She flew out the door, her hair leaving small waterlogged sparks behind her, as Dick stared, wishing he could take it all back.

~ ~ ~

Months after the breakup, the world was finally starting to seem a little less gray. For the most part, the Titans had been enjoying a pretty favorable year. Crime levels were relatively low, and the amount of world-ending scenarios had fallen to only about one or two.

Yet, there was something very clearly missing from the team, a member so loved by everyone, that the team simply wasn’t the same without him. But of course, as all heroes do, the Titans made do with what they had available, and among the five of them, their found family was closer than ever.

It was a late night in the Tower. Kory and Donna were just getting home from a long day at work. Raven and Gar had already been out patrolling and were just now settling into bed, while Victor was up late checking surveillance footage and doing some research on their latest villain.

The two women stopped just outside Kory’s bedroom, the silver metal walls of the Tower filling the room with a sort of gray atmosphere. On the door to Kory’s room was a photograph that Donna had taken of Tamaran the last time they had all been there, a priceless memento that Kory loved seeing every time she walked by it.

“I had a wonderful time today, Donna!” exclaimed Kory, giddy and hovering higher in the air than usual. In her hands were multiple shopping bags, gifts from admirers who had visited the modeling set that day.

Donna laughed to herself, curious how the alien princess was able to stay so energetic so late at night. The Amazon herself was already picturing a nice warm shower, a good book, and some much-needed rest.

“So did I, Kory” she replied. “You’re unbelievably photogenic. I think these are some of the best photos I’ve taken of you. I can’t wait to see how they look in the final catalog for this season.”

“Thanks” Kory giggled, “but don’t sell yourself short. Your eye for composition deserves every award out there. I swear there’s no better photographer out there than you.” Kory flew in close for a hug, easily picking Donna off the floor and twirling around with her.

She lowered her back onto the floor and grinned, grateful to have had a wonderful day with her best friend. Still, a lingering sadness could be seen in the back of Kory’s eyes, one that appeared the same day the Titans had lost a very important missing piece. The Tamaranean had no need to hide her emotions from anyone, especially her friends, and therefore she was really very easy to read. It had been almost a year since she last heard from Dick Grayson. Yet, Kory’s heart wasn’t the type to let go that all that quickly.

Donna, knowing her friend very well, reached out and put a hand on Kory’s shoulder. “He’ll come around soon,” she said. “You know, Dick. Responsible to a fault, always puts the job first.”

Kory nodded, her feet finally touching the floor of the hallway in which they were in, “I just miss him.”

Donna pulled Kory in for another hug, before saying goodnight and heading down the hall to her own bedroom. Kory turned to her own room, her eyes settling on the photograph of Tamaran for a moment, contemplating if maybe it was time to finally return home for a spell.

After a few moments, Kory opened the door to the room that had once belonged to both her and Dick. After he had left the Tower those many months ago, Kory couldn’t bring herself to move back into her old room, but rather she had decided to stay in the one that they had both shared, refusing to let go of the memories, knowing that one day he’d come back when he was ready.

As the door creaked open, Kory gently hovered inside, putting her shopping bags on the floor by a nearby closet. The room was actually more spacious than most of the rooms in the Tower, as it had originally been designed as sort of a master bedroom. Kory giggled to herself, remembering how Gar fought tooth and nail to try to claim this bedroom, only to find out that the wifi was much worse on this side of the building than the other.

As the entrance door behind her slowly closed on its own, Kory paused and looked around. The room held so many memories of her and Dick’s life together. Donna’s love of taking photographs always meant that the Tower was full of them. As such small picture frames of Dick and Kory were on every shelf, starting with one on her bedside table, to a few more by her desk. Among the photographs were also a bunch of her, Donna, and Raven, as well as pictures of all the Titans together, and even a couple photographs of Kory’s family on Tamaran. Sentimental as she was, Kory couldn’t help but keep every memory she possible.

The room itself, spacious as it was, didn’t actually have much wall space. Instead, a good portion of the room was floor to ceiling windows, lightly covered by sheer white curtains. Everywhere else was bookshelves, as both she and Dick loved to read and research whenever possible. There was also a small coffee table on top of which was a small Tamaranean flower that reminded Kory of home. The only other piece of furniture in the room, besides the aforementioned desk, was a large king-size bed, which was currently unmade with sheets scattered on the floor.

Kory sighed to herself, choosing to ignore the sheets for now, and instead head into the bathroom to wipe off her makeup. While many had told her that she didn’t need makeup, Kory always found that silly. Tamaran never had things like makeup or diverse clothing, so of course, she was going to experiment as much as she wanted with her own style.

She spent a couple of minutes getting ready for bed, hovering around the room putting things away, and settling in for the night. Finally, she sat in bed with the lights off. The light from the glittering New York City lights and some very faint stars filled the room, as did the soft glow of the tips of her hair. From her bedside table, Kory grabbed a purple Tamaranean hairbrush, with silver bristles, specifically made to deal with the strength and chaotic nature of Tamaranean hair, and got to work getting rid of the tangles. This always took a long time because her hair was so long, but she enjoyed taking the time to relax and pamper herself. She deserved it after all.

Looking out the window as she did this, she thought about Dick Grayson. Not really pinning, but rather, curious about where his life had led him. There were rumors going around that Batman had resurfaced in Gotham. The first time she had heard the rumor, she immediately knew why Dick had to leave her. To many of her friends’ surprise, Kory didn’t blame him as they thought she would, but rather she was incredibly aware of the dark place the concept of Batman brought him. She knew he was probably frightened by himself, and ashamed, and more than anything she wished she could take away that shame. She wanted to remind him of the good that she saw every time she looked into his eyes. He was a much brighter soul than he ever gave himself credit for.

Kory sucked in a breath as the brush caught on an especially knotty part of her hair before she gave up and put the brush away entirely. Her glowing green eyes illuminated the room for a moment as she glanced around one last time before laying her head on her pillow and letting her eyes flutter closed.

~ ~ ~

A soft tip-tapping on the window jolted Kory awake. Her green eyes lit up fiercely, and a starbolt made from pure solar energy started shinning from her hand. In a flash, Kory was hovering over the bed, her warrior instincts forcing her to a fighting stance, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

Without hesitation, she flew over to the window and threw the curtains aside to get a better look. For a moment, she didn’t see anyone at all, just the shadows of the very early morning. Yet, she knew herself well and always trusted her instincts, which meant that she had definitely heard something.

She extinguished the starbolt in her hand and moved to open the window and fly out into the night. The glass slid open easily, allowing her to slip through, feeling the cool night air through the delicate fabric of her nightgown, tickling her naturally warm skin.

Still, on edge, the glow of her emerald eyes searched the sides of the building, before finally noticing a familiar figure sitting on the roof of the tower. She grinned, flying up to the edge of the roof and floating just inches away from the figure.

His voice, just as familiar as her own, whispered butterflies into her stomach, “Hello Kory.”

“Dick.” Her gaze, moments ago filled with merciless fire, softened. She smiled, truthfully not quite ready to hug him, but ecstatic to see him.

The next words out of Dick’s mouth didn’t sting but still felt like fire, this time warm and familiar rather than sharp. His gaze poured directly into her soul, “I’m so sorry.”

Kory stayed where she was, hovering out over the night sky and the city lights, “I know you are, Dick.”

She was very aware of the pain in his eyes, of the fear that he was unrecognizable to her. To some extent, she did see a different Dick Grayson standing before her than the one who had said goodbye to her all those months before. Yet, it wasn’t a Dick Grayson she had never seen before, but rather the same one she had met on her first day on Earth. The only difference was that at this moment, he wore a Batman suit instead of a Robin suit.

Dick’s voice quivered, struggling to find the right words to say, “I know you know, but I still have to prove it to you. You deserve at least that.”

Kory flew closer to him, the inhuman warmth that came from her body tickling Dick’s skin. “I know what you had to do,” she whispered to him. “The world needed a Batman and you were the obvious choice.”

Dick lifted his hand, pulling off the cowl he wore and throwing it down next to him, revealing his face. Close as they were now, Kory could his tears, a sign that his era as Batman had finally come to a close. “Bruce is back, Kory.” He held his head in his hands, allowing himself to be vulnerable, “I should be happy, but I don’t know how to be myself again. That mask changes me every time I put it on.”

“I know your heart,” Kory replied, gently taking his hand away from the mask and putting it between her palms. “A mask cannot hide that. No matter which one you wear.”

She could see Dick processing her words, wondering whether or not he even deserved her forgiveness, but Kory knew him well. She knew that he loved her, but she also knew that he would always struggle with a need to fulfill what he considered to be his duty, his responsibility to the man who raised him.

The two lovers lived in a world that was anything but black and white. They both knew that the lives they chose would never be a simple path. Yet, Dick Grayson was ready to allow light back into his life, and Koriand’r, the personification of that light was ready to accept him.

Moments passed, and the sky began to light up as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. Kory gingerly lowered herself down to sit next to the man she loved. He wasn’t perfect. Neither was she, but she was happy being imperfect together. She lifted her hand to his cheek, wiping a leftover tear from his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said shakily, placing his palm over hers.

Kory smiled, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, “I’ll always love you, Dick Grayson.”

Dick rested his eyes, leaning his head on her shoulder, drifting off to sleep. After a few moments, Kory gently slipped one hand under his legs and carried him back down to their bedroom so he could get some sleep. The rest of the Titans would have a lot of questions later in the day, and the couple still had a lot to talk about, but for now, they were content with going back to sleep, even though the morning light was already pouring in.

“Kory?” Dick mumbled, with his eyes already closed, their bodies pressed close together, “I love you.”

“I know.”


End file.
